Grizzly Watching

Grizzly Bears are magnificent and the biggest reason visitors choose our lodge!

Grizzly bears thrive here and the viewing opportunities are spectacular. We have operated our Grizzly Bear Lodge for decades and know the prime spots for bear watching. The ultimate grizzly bear photo opportunities.

Two for one Eagle Picture

Bald eagleBald Eagles mate for life, as do most birds. However, if one dies or is lost, the one remaining will take a new mate. Although male and female eagles have the same coloring there is a difference in size. Females are about 1/3 larger than males. Another way to tell them apart is to measure the height of their bill. The female’s bill is always deeper than the male’s and usually has a larger hook than the males. All this being said it is still hard to tell which of these two is the male or female. It is definitely a mating pair because no two eagles would get this close to each other if they were not a mating pair.

 

Grizzly Bear playing or eating Set 2

Grizzly eatingGrizzly eating Grizzly eatingThis is the case of a lazy fishing grizzly.  This bear is in a reasonably deep hole compared to the water just 30 meters (90 feet) up stream.  The grizzlies up stream often wound salmon which die and drift down to this lower pool where this bear waits to scoop up the salmon without wasting any energy chasing the salmon.  From the first picture is yesterdays post you can see the fish is not moving and it is just a matter of getting the salmon in the right position to eat or it could be considered playing with ones food. Either way the final photo seems to depict a satisfied grizzly.

 

 

Grizzly Bear playing or eating Set 1

Grizzly eatinggrizzly with salmonGrizzly eatingGrizzly Bear Lodge is one of two lodges that have access to viewing stands on Knight Inlet’s Glendale River.  Access is granted after August 24th each year. After a boat run up Knight Inlet in the morning you transfer to shore and a fifteen-minute van ride to the viewing stands on Glendale River’s man-made spawning channel.  Our access time is from ten to noon each day.  There are two stands available of which we prefer the second as it is on both the natural river and the spawning channel entrance.  Directly below the stand is a deeper area, which holds the pink salmon before they go over the weir in to the spawning area.  This is the site of the above photos.

Click to enlarge then click again

Juvenile Grizzly Bears Fishing

 “Not all fishmen are created egual” this saying applies to grizzly bears as well as humans.  Some bears seem to spend much of their time running and splashing in the water without catching many fish.  But the key to their succes is the size of the bear.  Although the two grizzlies in the photo appear to be three year olds they also look pretty healthy for this time of the year so their fishing style must be working.

Juvenile Grizzlies Fishing

 

 

Four month grizzly bear cub

Grizzly and cub

In late may the grizzly bears bring their cubs to the beach in Knight Inlet.  The first beach is one that is tucked in behind a small inland about two miles west of Glendale River where most of the grizzly bear watching occurs. This is a small quite area free from male bears and provides the new cubs some sanctuary. I remember this photo taken by fellow guide, Glen, because on the first viewing of this cub it ran into the grass behind the beach logs. The second time, a day later, it also ran but came back our and hide behind it’s mother. This picture is the third visit where it sat and watched or boats.  They learn from their mother and in all that time the mother grizzly ignored our presence.  Not hard to tell that this is an early spring bear with the long appearing legs because the belly has not the full look of the late fall bears.

Perfect Eagle Picture

perfect bald eagle
Click to enlarge

Thanks Glen to one of the lodge’s guides we have the perfect eagle picture. An eagle coming down to pickup the pinky orange rock cod floating in the water. When the eagles are about the lodge and we have rockfish we gather guests on the floating dock and throw out the fish and this should be the result.  The biggest problem is the one or two second delay on most digital cameras.  Solution have a SLR digital to listen to the guide when he says click do it because that is your two second warning or all you will get is a tail shot or a ripple on the water.

Grizzly coming to investigate

Classic Grizzly PoseGrizzly bear viewing from the lodge on Minstrel Island requires run up Knight Inlet to the Glendale River estuary.  Once we arrive we transfer to sixteen-foot flat bottom skiff which allows us to travel in very shallow water. Being able to move in shallow water means that your guide can leave the skiff and manoeuvre the boat by walking along side. This permits us to move up the river at a low tide where as using a motor we would need to wait longer and the bears would have left the estuary. As I recall this picture is an example were a grizzly came to investigate and we slowly backed down river until curiosity was satisfied. No we were not in danger as any loud noise such as banging an oar on the metal boat and the bear would have left immediately.  The bears we view have come to accept our presence and do not show aggression only curiosity.

 

 

Spring Grizzly Bears Mating

Female GrizzlyMale grizzlyGrizzly bear’s mating time is late May through June in the Glendale River area of Knight Inlet. It is also the same time that the mother grizzlies are bringing their new cubs to the estuary area for the first time.  This is potential a dangerous mix as males have been known to kill cubs as it is believed that the females will come into season. The courtship we watched unfold seemed to involve an uninterested female who was trying to avoid the male. The male was following her along the beach until she took to the water and eventually swam past the bow of our boat.  The male was undeterred and wadded along the shore to keep pace with the female. This continued up the delta grassland of the estuary until they disappeared in to the surrounding forest.

 

The Four Austrians 7 of 11

Grizzly bear with salmon

Grizzly bear fishing techniques vary but from the number of salmon around the bear in the first photo not too much skill is required on this day. One fish under the belly another in the water and a third under the raised paw this makes it easy for this sub-adult grizzly. The second bear in deeper water seems to have its eye on the fish but isn’t sure how to catch the salmon. Because of the number of salmon the bears are very tolerant of one another it is common to see several mothers with cubs as well and juvenile bears feeding in the viewing area at the same time. After the two hour viewing time we are permitted on the stands it is back to the estuary for a picnic lunch possible a run up the river in the skiff and another chance for more wildlife on the return to the lodge.

The Four Austrians 6 of 11

View from standsPink salmon in riverOnce the grizzly bear tour arrives in the Glendale River estuary we to transfer to shore and drive a van for fifteen minutes up an old logging road to the two viewing stands on a man-made spawning channel. The stand we normally use has view of the natural river on one side (the view shown) and the entrance to the spawning channel on the other. The stands are large enough to move about for good photos and steady enough to use tripods while others move around. The bears move up and down the river to feed on the pink salmon waiting to enter the spawning area or already in the spawning beds. The pink salmon show are often so abundant that you can not see the river bottom but this still makes it difficult for some bears to be successful at fishing.